Molecular Epidemiology of Acinetobacter baumannii Bloodstream Isolates Obtained in the United States from 1995 to 2004 Using rep-PCR and Multilocus Sequence Typing

Using a repetitive-sequence-based (rep)-PCR (DiversiLab), we have molecularly typed Acinetobacter nosocomial bloodstream isolates (Acinetobacter baumannii [n = 187], Acinetobacter pittii [n = 23], and Acinetobacter nosocomialis [n = 61]) obtained from patients hospitalized in U. S. hospitals over a 10-year period (1995-2004) during a nationwide surveillance study (Surveillance and Control of Pathogens of Epidemiological Importance [SCOPE]). Patterns of A. baumannii rep-PCR were compared to those of previously identified international clonal lineages (ICs) and were further investigated by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to compare the two typing methods. Forty-seven of the A. baumannii isolates clustered with the previously defined IC 2. ICs 1, 3, 6, and 7 were also detected. The remaining 81 isolates were unrelated to the described ICs. In contrast, A. pittii and A. nosocomialis isolates were more heterogeneous, as determined by rep-PCR. Our MLST results were in good correlation with the rep-PCR clusters. Our study confirms previous data indicating the predominance of a few major clonal A. baumannii lineages in the United States, particularly IC 2. The presence in the United States of A. baumannii ICs 1, 2, and 3 from as early as 1995 suggests that global dissemination of these lineages was an early event.